St. Gallen commune (St. Gallen canton, Switzerland)

Last modified: 2026-02-06 by martin karner
Keywords: st. gallen | bear |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

Argent a Bear rampant Sable langued and in his virility Gules and armed and gorged Or.
Željko Heimer, 23 December 2000

Variant of the still official traditional emblem, which has been confirmed by the city council on 20 August 1943. At the beginning of the 14th century, the city adopted the coat of arms of the monastery, featuring a standing black bear with red claws, tongue and virility. The golden claws and the golden collar were awarded to the city in 1475 by Emperor Friedrich III (source: [obe91]). The 1943 decision was never revoked.
Martin Karner, 1 February 2026

Stylized Variant for Administrative Purposes

This stylized variant was introduced in 1968 for official documents and other administrative purposes. It has been confirmed on 27 May 1986 by the city council, when the new corporate identity of the city was introduced (Part of the new corporate identity were now also the city colours black-white-red). The stylized emblem is expressly reserved for the city administration (See linked article from Otto Bergmann below).
Martin Karner, 1 February 2026

• Feldschützen-Gesellschaft St. Gallen
• Sportschützen St. Fiden-St. Gallen
• St. Gallen constituency
• St. Gallen canton
• Herisau AR, Kriens LU
• Switzerland
  
  
• Das Wappenbild der Abtei und der Stadt St. Gallen in älteren Bannern und Siegeln (by Ferdinand Gull, 1907, German)
• Siegel und Wappen der Stadt St. Gallen (by Ernst Ziegler, 1979, German)
• Zum grafischen Erscheinungsbild der Stadt St. Gallen (by Otto Bergmann, 1994, German)

People having the book of Louis Mühlemann, Arms and Flags of Switzerland will certainly notice a difference between the version of the arms of St. Gallen commune available in that book and my version. The flag image sent today is taken from "St. Galler Wappenbuch", edited by the Department of the Interior of the Canton of St. Gallen (1991 | [obe91]). This more stylized version seems to date back to 1986, because I have 2 dates for the decisions of the municipal council about the adoption of the arms. The first is August 20, 1943 (certainly the old design) and the second, May 27, 1986 (certainly the new design), but there's nothing else about this change. Anyway, with all the respect I have for Louis Mühlemann, I think that a book edited by the canton itself is more reliable.

As I'm talking about the book for St. Gallen canton, I have to say that this book is the only one showing both municipal coat of arms AND municipal flags (only a B/W sketch but very useful for the drawings), and I've noticed that there are, in some cases, some differences between the arms and the flag, mostly the position of some animals. As there is no other written flag resources for the other cantons, I have to draw the flags using the only image available, namely the arms.

Pascal Gross, 21 December 2000

Since Pascal didn't have the informations given in the article of Otto Bergmann, he didn't know about the restriction of the stylized version for administrative purposes. Neither did I when I made the assumption that this version has not become popular and that would be the reason for no other references except in the St. Galler Wappenbuch (not to be confused with the St. Galler Fahnenbuch [mrt39]). These considerations have become obsolete.
Martin Karner, 1 February 2026

Miscellaneous Pictures